The Lion cub
by lollipoploves
Summary: Lotor has done the one thing you should never do in front of Lance McClain, he hurt a child. Now, all hell has gotten loose.


I have no excuses about being late to update. All I can say is that I wish I was a better writer. I wrote this in two hours cause I was bored and cant sleep.

Summary: Lotor has done the one thing you should never do in front of one Lance McClain. He has hurt a child. Now he must live with the consequences, but so must the others.

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The rescue of the newest planet Ectranion was all going to plan. Until it wasn't. Voltron was flying separately, and the lions were doing pretty fantastically. The planet was a lot like earth with its blue skies and green grass, the glowing water was different, but it was the closest to home any of the paladins had seen in far too long. The blade was helping as well and it all seemed to be going perfectly until, from underground ships began to emerge by the dozens. Lotor's newest fleet had some sort of burrowing system that allowed them to hide underground and undetected.

The ships quickly had the lions surrounded and beaten down before any of the paladins knew what was happening. Multitudes of Galran soldiers were shooting from every direction and pretty soon Shiro had given the order to surrender while the castle of lions retreated to get some help. And yet, this still seemed almost routine by now. Red paladin, Lance could almost count the events as they happened. If pattern was to be followed, they would be chained, beaten, thrown in cells and about to be brought to the main Galra Warship for torture and then miraculously, at the last minute, the castle will have returned with reinforcements and Voltron would once again escape while pulling the entire Galra force after them in the chase and thus free the planet and get them on their side.

It was seriously beginning to be a bother. Why didn't they just form Voltron and run the stupid git Lotor through with the space sword? Because that would be too easy apparently. And "Morally wrong" so they had to go through this quiznak in order to fight for the Universe. Lance sighed as he watched the captured blades get handcuffed as well. Keith was actually part of this group which surprised Lance a little bit. Though the fact that he was still fighting even though he was surrounded and had lost his sword didn't surprise him in the least. It was almost admirable to see that the fiery mullet-headed moron hadn't gave up. Eventually though the soldiers handcuffed him as well and they were all carted through the increasingly familiar hallways of the Galra ship to the main deck for the usual gloat fest of the pompous prince Lotor.

Lance really didn't like Lotor. He reminded him of this one guy who tried to date his sister, Veronica, and would constantly try to demoralize and bully her. Sure, the guy was kinda hot, and so was Lotor, but looks didn't cover up faults in Lances book. He grinned to himself as he remembered what Veronica did to the creep when she finally made it clear to him that she wasn't interested. He didn't think the idiot would ever have kids. Lance was brought out of his musings when Pidge tripped and fell, it didn't look like a natural trip, so he assumed the imp was up to something. He caught the sight of her picking something off the guard that hauled her up and smirked, only to frown again when the same guard went to smack her across the face. Okay. NO.

A little rough handling was okay. She was Pidge, she wasn't hurt so easily, that and they were enemies on opposite sides of a war. But there was no way, he was going to allow the guard to hurt her while he could stop it. The hand flew, and a resounding crash echoed through the hallways as the guard landed on the ground clutching his midsection. More guards gathered around Lance as he watched blood be coughed up by the guard laying on the ground. Served him right. That kick would remind him of the unspoken "hands off" rule that was in play every time they were captured. A loud sigh brought attention back to the room they were supposed to enter and Lotor greeted them while sitting on a lavish chair with his hand pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Now really," he said in his weirdly British accent "was there really a need to go a provoke the Paladins? The red one is already dimwitted, no need to scramble the brains of the only one able to hold an intelligent conversation." He tutted and made a grand show of dismissing the injured guard and ordering the rest of them to chain the Voltron crew and the Blades to what Lance privately called the "time-out wall". Really it was just a wall that the handcuffs merged with so the Galra could torture their victims.

"We started out a little rougher than what I was planning" Lotor announced as he gracefully stood up and grabbed his favored torture tool, the closest Lance could describe it to in Earth terms would be a Bull-whip. Both he and Keith had experiences with the thing because they were usually the most outspoken of the group. Lotor usually preferred to torture the mind, using words and actions to demean or dishearten his enemies.

"No matter, we have done this little song and dance so many times that I doubt it would have made any difference in what I have planned. Princess, I do so hate having to resort to this tactic against the mighty Altaens, but you did not take the bargain to team up and put an end to this ridiculous war. So really, the injuries of your precious allies are all on you."

Wow, he didn't waste any time getting into it. Lance could already tell that the Princess was blaming herself for this entire war.

"And you Green One, if you had only seen such a simple trap, you and your comrades wouldn't be on this wall, now would you? Or did you try to warn your precious leader only for him to ignore your contribution once again. Tut. Tut." A sharp crack sounded as the whip landed next to Hunks ear. He shrieked in fear and started to shake.

"Hmm, the Yellow One really is too much of a coward. How in the universe did he become a Paladin of the mighty Voltron? He really isn't much use as a leg, now is he?"

At this point Lance would usually be pulling at his binds and hurling insults at the long-haired freak but for some reason he really wasn't feeling it today. Keith made up for it though, he pushed so far that the wall cracked and Lotor and his guards had to rush to bind him even tighter. When he was bound once again, Lotor smirked and once again started his mental assault. This was a rather off day for all of them it seemed. Lotor would usually have knocked Keith by this point, Lance would normally have 3 or 4 wounds, bleeding heavily from the stupid whip, Pidge would have been lost in her mind, as would Shiro, and the Princess would be holding back tears at this point and at least one Blade member would have heroically escaped his chains to try and assassinate the Prince only for him to be shot in the back and dragged away. Usually only seen on the next mission, heavily damaged, but there all the same.

Of course, Lotor wasn't finished with them yet. Oh no, they still had a couple of hours before the ship would be ready to leave and all the Galra on the planet would be cocky enough to let their guard down enough for Coran to pull yet another miraculous save. Lance had a sneaking suspicion that the only reason it took so long for the enemy to leave was because they had to try and load the lions onto the ship.

"One of you seems to be rather quiet today." Lotor said, finally turning his attention to Lance and walking down the line of his prisoners to stand right in front of him. Lance gave him his best bored look and even managed to throw in a yawn before the prince lost his temper and grabbed his throat in one massive, clawed hand.

"Tell me dimwit, what are you? You are no longer the Paladin of the Blue lion, who has found a better replacement than you and the Red lion only tolerates you until her true paladin returns from his adventures following his half-breed heritage. So, tell me, why are you even here? What worth do you bring to this 'team?'" he was snarling now, claws drawing pinpricks of blood that slowly ran down his neck and stained his armor. To be honest, if this were any other day Lotor's words would have done some immeasurable damage, since they were words that he had often said to himself. And yet today, today he felt nothing more than far-away pinpricks to his pride that didn't really seem to matter at the moment. He instead just looked dully into the prince's eyes.

"tch' no matter, you all will be dead soon enough." He released Lance's neck as he shoved his head back to hit the wall. "What I really need from all you Paladins is information. The Empire needs to know all of the Blade's spies as well as the names of all the planets you have… _befriended_ … in your time fighting such a useless fight." Lotor walked slowly, with his hands behind his back, back to the middle of the group bound helplessly to the wall.

"There's no way we would tell you any of that!" Pidge shouted though it looked slightly comical since she had to stand on her toes with her arms chained above her head (she was the shortest and the Galra didn't exactly customize their torture wall to fit her height). The rest of the Paladins agreed, fire and caution burning in each of their eyes as they watched Lotor nod to one of the guards who then left.

"No? Well I think there are ways to get around that. You all seem to be very good against pain. We have found that out in numerous battles, before haven't we? But I wonder how you would hold up against…." He paused for dramatic effect, like the stupid Prince he was. The door opened and the guard who had left returned, this time dragging in a small form behind him.

"a child's pain." Lotor finally finished. He smirked as every Paladin paled as they caught on to what he was doing. Every paladin, except Lance. Lotor motioned for the guard to drag the small thing, a female Ectranion, to him and he slowly made the child sit on the floor directly facing the group of horror-stricken Paladins.

"Guard, I believe it is time we showed our esteemed guests the ceremonial knives that this planet is known for making. I believe that they will really enjoy the workmanship and…. effectiveness…. these little Ectanion's are capable of making." He smirked even wider as he saw the horror and anger in his audience.

Lance didn't hear a word after 'knives' he was finally out of his melancholy state and the anger he felt was slowly building a bubbling inside him. He could vaguely hear the others start to yell and struggle against their bonds and Lotor continuing to taunt them as he slowly brought a beautifully carved golden knife closer to the little girl's face. She barely looked older than a ten-year-old in earth standards and her fluffy ears twitched as she curiously watched those around her. Even as she tried to lean away from the hand that was holding the knife.

'No. no. nonononono!' Lance could recall Allura telling the team that the Ectanion's were a very long-lived species they spent most of their lives almost like babies and took nearly 3 times as long as humans to grow up and when they did, they were giant. Which means that she might look ten but the little one couldn't be much older than 3. The fire burning inside him grew another level.

Keith couldn't break out, which means Lance definitely couldn't he needed more power. He needed more POWER!

 **"We can help with that, but you must agree to something first."** Two voices, to incredibly familiar sounding voices answered his rage. They brought with them 3 more voices who sounded comforting but not his.

 **"I will agree to anything to save the child."** Lance answered immediately.

Huck was so scared. Not for him, nor his friends, not even the child. Though he was concerned for all of them and he desperately wish he could help. No, he was scared of the man who was chained to the wall beside him. His best friend in the entire universe. Lance had always had a protective streak when it came to his family, but Hunk had never seen anyone as scary as Lance McClain when he was trying to protect a child. Hunk had no doubts in his mind that quiznak was going to go down soon and Lance was going to bring the grim reaper with him.

Lotor was relishing the power he held over the paladins. Even the Blue One who was acting oddly earlier was finally giving him the attention he deserved. The child would be his ticket to finally attaining everything he had ever wanted. Power. He could almost taste it, he could have anything he wanted after this! Slowly, as if to savor the taste of his coming victory he pressed the sharp knife to the small child, right underneath the eye. It cried out and Lotor couldn't help but imagine it as the cries of his enemies bowing down to him. Then the explosion happened.

Lance didn't know what was happening, but as he saw that first droplet of greenish blood fall from the child's skin and as he heard the child's cry of pain he suddenly didn't feel like he was bound by anything anymore. He brought his arms down and crouched into a hunter's stance, it felt like he had done this a million times so he let his instincts lead him. The large purple one was the one who hurt the child, so he was going to have to go, his pack and mate had to be freed, and the child had to be comforted. With a plan in place he launched his attack.

Keith couldn't believe what he was seeing. Nor could anyone else for that matter. Lance was no longer on the wall next to Hunk, he also no longer looked like himself. Dust flew around as Lance broke his chains which apparently also were set to explode (he was suddenly very glad he didn't manage to escape and punch Lotor when he talked down to the others) on top of his head were ethereal feline ears which switched colors constantly and matched by a tail which swished angrily behind him. Lance had also managed to grow claws and fangs with the same ethereal substance and he definitely wasn't afraid to use them. He was crouched in an attack position that seemed oddly familiar before he'd set all hell loose on the Galran soldiers and Lotor.

Death and destruction were all that was left of Lotor's crew in the seconds after the Blue One had attacked. All Lotor could think though was "Beautiful. Powerful. Mine!" he abandoned the screaming child to launch his own attack on the creature in front of him. His claws clashed against the others and they slashed and growled with abandon, both falling in the their instincts as they fought. Teeth caught skin and blood flowed freely down both the fighters, but Lotor could feel himself tiring. He could only fight like this for so long before he was exhausted, but it didn't look like the Blue One was even breaking a sweat. "I must have him!" he thought, but in order to do that he had to leave his prize and build a cage for him, suitable enough to encompass this brilliance. He couldn't win here so instead he had to escape. For now. A quick slash to the power lines and darkness filled the room, blinding his beauty long enough for Lotor to escape out of a secret passage. He would be back soon.

Pidge had mostly been ignoring the fight after the initial surprise and focused on getting her hands to work properly so she could unlock the cuffs with the key she had snatched from the guards during her "fall". As the lights darkened she had finally managed to do it and she dropped to the ground with a whump. Sometimes, she really hated how short she was. Emergency power was restored soon after but Lance, or whatever Lance had become was the only one left in the room. He looked a bit confused and Pidge had managed to catch a glimpse of the bright and colorful display of his ears and tail before he turned and ran for the child, crouching low and making a slow rumble in his chest that Pidge could only classify as a purr. He curled around her as he purred, and the child slowly stopped her sobbing. That was taken care of, now she just had to rescue the rest of her team and they could get out of here.

As soon as he was released Keith ran up to Lance. "That was amazing Lance, how did you do that? Why are you glowing? Where is Lotor?" Shiro joined them but had to back off when Lance's purr turned into a warning growl. The others also kept their distances. "Lance?" Keith asked and suddenly the multicolored appendages turned red.

" **Lance is no longer here, my Paladin"** a female voice answered. **"He had agreed to let the lions of Voltron use his body to finish this war, if only we could save the child."**

The colors changed from Red to Black as a stronger female voice continued **"We would have like to not have to do this, you Paladins have had your ups and downs, but he desired only power and we have granted him that power."**

The colors changed once again to green and a small voice, similar to Pidge's continued. **"The lion ships are just that for now, ships. We will slowly begin to transfer our essences back to our original bodies."**

Yellow this time, strong but caring **"but Lance as you know him is gone for now. We can use his body and invoke the powers of Voltron with his energy. We do not know if he will return."**

"What?!" Keith, Allura, Pidge, Hunk and Shiro all shouted, protesting the fact that Lance wasn't coming back.

"Using his energy?" Pidge finally screamed "Wouldn't that kill him?" Silence answered, and the colors of Lances tail and ears slowly turned into a deep and gentle blue. A sorrowful voice finally answered her.

" **Yes. If Lance allows us to use his energy to solve this war. He will die."**

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I wrote this in 2 hours cause I was bored. I don't know if I will be making this a series or a one-shot and I don't know if I will be posting much but I hope you enjoyed. Please review.


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